CRS report on e-voting
Election Reform and Electronic
Voting Systems (DREs):
Analysis of Security Issues
November 4, 2003, Congressional Research Service RL32139
Eric A. Fischer,
Senior Specialist in Science and Technology,
Domestic Social Policy Division.
CRS weighs in with this 40 page study of “direct recording electronic”
(DRE) touchscreen voting machines. Their use is expected to increase
substantially under provisions of The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA, P.L.
107-252). The purpose of this report has been to explain the controversy about the security
of DREs and to lay out the issues raised and options for addressing them. The report
does not attempt to resolve the controversy.
The report discusses seven proposals for addressing the security issues raised
about DREs. They include using current procedures and security mechanisms, with
improvements as necessary; improving standards for the development and
certification of voting systems; using open-source software for voting systems; and
severalmethods to improve the transparency and verifiability of elections, including
voter-verified paper ballots and an electronic version of that approach, use of
modular electronic voting architecture that physically separates the voter interface
from the casting and counting functions; and a system that uses cryptographic
protocols to permit voters to verify that their ballots were cast as intended and that
no votes were improperly changed, omitted, or added.